New Yorker: Can A Good Mayor Amass Too Much Power?

New Yorker: Can A Good Mayor Amass Too Much Power?

The latest issue of the New Yorker wonders if, despite being a good mayor, Michael Bloomberg has amassed too much political power, no doubt in large part through his sheer dominance in financing.

New Yorker staffer Ben McGrath writes, "After seven and a half years in office, Bloomberg, who is now sixty-seven, has amassed so much power and respect that he seems more a Medici than a mayor." One of McGrath's main points focuses on the dual nature of Bloomberg's massive fortune: that it allows the Mayor to rise above political considerations when making policy decisions for the public, but at the same time he has drowned out any dissenting voices. McGrath quotes a Democratic political consultant: "He's probably been a fine mayor, but he seems a lot better, because all the usual agitators--groups that exist to drive a mayor crazy--have in one way or another been bought off."

The article, titled "The Untouchable," is available in the latest issue of the New Yorker

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